TORONTO (Reuters) - With first-quarter earnings season set to kick off in earnest, market watchers are expecting a relatively sturdy performance from Canadian companies and say it will be another three to six months before the weak US economy truly hits results.

High oil and commodity prices should benefit energy and resource companies, though financial firms, which have seen their share prices battered amid the credit crunch, could deliver some bad news.

"Expectations are for softer growth in most industries, but growth nonetheless," said Kate Warne, Canadian market strategist at Edward Jones.

Big names slated to report results before month's end include energy powerhouses EnCana Corp and Suncor Energy, as well as Canadian Pacific Railway and contract electronics maker Celestica Inc.

The big banks will aren't due to report earnings until late May.

Most analysts agree the weak US economy will take some steam out the profit growth of Canadian companies, but doubt this will significantly manifest itself before the second or third quarter.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion appeared to prove this lag hypothesis when it bucked any concerns over the state of the US economy by reporting a profit earlier this month that topped expectations. Some had worried the company would stumble because of the slowdown, which could hurt sales of its smartphones.

"In terms of earnings, I very much doubt that (the first quarter) would be the trough," said Elvis Picardo, investment strategist at Northern Securities in Vancouver. "We are beginning to see evidence of widespread damage across a number of sectors, not just the financials."

But despite turbulence south of the border, the Toronto Stock Exchange's benchmark index remains near its record level of 14,646.82. On Friday, the S&P/TSX composite closed at 14,237.06.